Initially regarded as the mother of a Messiah whose word was spreading throughout the Roman world, Mary became Theotokos, the Mother of God, when Christianity was established as the official religion of the Empire. It was then that the doctrine of her perpetual virginity gradually took hold, assigning her the role of a new Eve redeeming the sin of humanity. At the same time, Islam made her the only woman mentioned by name in the Qur’an.

At the turn of the first millennium, she was portrayed as a majestic, hieratic Virgin seated on a throne, symbolizing the power of a Church undergoing transformation.

In the second half of the Middle Ages, Mary’s face took on a more human aspect. The protective mother was also, for Renaissance painters, a muse—blond and translucent—embodying the ideals of feminine beauty.